Any suggestions ?

Hello all,

I have recently bought the following foldable cardboard chessboard

 and I was thinking to use it as the main board but clearly not being rigid Im having some problems using it. I was thinking to attach it to a clear plastic sheet or something similar in order to make it sturdy  like a regular chess board.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas.

Thank you all

The problem with mounting this foldable board on something rigid is there will still be gaps where the open edges meet and an indentation where the creases for the folds exist.

What I would do instead is buy an inexpensive paper chess board like this one from The House of Staunton:

http://www.houseofstaunton.com/standard-paper-tournament-chessboard-2-25-squares-10845.html

At $1.19 the board is cheap enough so you can buy a few so if one gets ruined in the process of mounting it's no big deal and you will have at least another to continue.

Once you get the board mounted, you can have the whole thing laminated, if you mount it on something thin.  Kinko's has a laminator or you might find a grade school teacher to do this for you.  Most schools have laminators.  My wife teaches 3rd grade and the laminator at her school is definitely big enough to handle a chess board like this.

Hello,

Great suggestion!! What do you mean by mounted? Any ideas on what I could mount it?

Thanks!!

Mounting it is the same as attaching it to a backing.

The first thing to decide is what to use as that backing.  A poster board material would be good as it is heavier than paper but is still relatively thin and has some flexibility.  Of course this will be something that you cannot roll or bend otherwise the poster board will have a permanent bend in it.

You could have the paper board only laminated and then it would be able to be rolled but still not bent.

But for all this trouble and limitations, like you don't want to bend it, you would be better off just getting a deluxe vinyl board.

Anyway if you find a stiffer piece of material, wood or paper, to attach it to, then you would want to look at somehow gluiing it to that backing material.  I have used a spray contact cement for doing this and it works pretty well.

In all honesty, I do not bother doing this because the qualities of the final product isn't that great.

If you want something that will not bend, then you can get a wood board.  For Green and White squares, I found this board on the internet and bought it:

http://www.worldtohome.com/19-green-and-white-board-wood-veneer-matte-finish.aspx?gclid=CIK6lvmd1sYCFQYQaQodvPYPxQ

The squares are 2.2" and it works just fine for me.

Otherwise, I use the Deluxe or Premium vinyl boards for Green and White or buff.

I also have 3 folding wood boards.  Two of them are from The House of Staunton in Mahogany and Maple with one having the Mahogany border and the other the Maple border.  I also have one in Mahogany border from The Rochester Chess Center with 2.0" squares.  The best bag for the 2 2.25" folding boards is the HoS Deluxe Tournament Bag.

Oh yes, I also bought and am waiting to receive the board Jonas created and sold from his Best Chessmen Ever site.  That board is in 4 solid pieces that come together with magnets in the board.  It looks like a winner.

And if you want a more solid board and keep the price really low, there are the PVC folding boards from Wholesale Chess.  I have one of these:

http://www.wholesalechess.com/shop/chess-sets/travel-chess-sets/folding-chess-sets/quality-folding-pvc-chess-board.

Good Luck.

Thank you very much for all of the information.